Do women talk more than men? Does swearing show a lack of intelligence? Do Eskimos really have hundred words for snow? These questions and more will be the subject of this talk. Language is one of the most complex and fascinating things in the world and yet many people's knowledge of language is based on myths, lies and half-truths. This talk will examine some of these myths and misconceptions, but it will also look at why linguistics and language is such a blind spot for many skeptics. How did this situation arise and is there anything that can be done about it?

Russ Mayne teaches English at the University of Leicester. He has also worked in universities in Taiwan and Japan. He writes about pseudoscience in language teaching and language myths on the 'Evidence Based EFL' blog